Genetically Modified (GM) crops and biodiversity

There are increasing demands on biodiversity data to help
determine and predict the effect of changes in agriculture.
The
Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) has
recently completed work to provide advice on the
Post Market Environmental Monitoring (PMEM) of genetically
modified (GM) crops. This included examining whether existing
environmental surveillance networks could be used for detect
unanticipated adverse effects on biodiversity once a GM crop is
authorised and becomes grown commercially. JNCC, together
with its surveillance partners the Centre for Ecology and
Hydrology and the British Trust for Ornithology, provided
advice on the application of the Countryside Survey,
Breeding Birds
Survey and the UK Butterfly Monitoring
Scheme. Novel statistical work has determined how
information on where new crops are growing can be used to subset
data from these surveys, and determine whether there would be
sufficient power to show if bird, plant or butterfly populations
that use cropped and would respond differently in different
areas. The statistical work provides general models that will
enable data from these schemes to be used for many other
comparisons within the agricultural landscape.

This report considers how capable our current
biodiversity surveillance systems are at identifying small
unexpected changes if genetically modified crops were to be
commercially grown. This has much wider application, as it
will allow us to investigate relationships with a range of possible
influencing factors, such as the possible impacts from using crops
for biofuel production or management changes intended to increase
productivity.